Molyneuxs Problem

Molyneuxs Problem

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Literatur

Ein von Geburt Blinder betastet eine Kugel und einen Würfel etwa gleicher Größe. Nun erhält dieser Blinder die Sehkarft und eben diese Kugel und den Würfel betrachten. Kann er – ohne sie zu betasten – sagen, welches die Kugel ist?

Im Mai 2011 offenbar beantwortet, siehe: Held, Richard, Yuri Ostrovsky, Beatrice de Gelder, Tapan Gandhi, Suma Ganesh, Umang Mathur, Pawan Sinha (2011): " The newly sighted fail to match seen with felt", Literatur

Am Samstag den 7.Juli 1688 [1] schrieb William Molyneux (1656 – 1698) an John Locke:

Dublin July. 7. 88

A Problem Proposed to the Author of the Essai Philosophique concernant L'Entendement
A Man, being born blind, and having a Globe and a Cube, nigh of the same bignes, Committed into his Hands, and being taught or Told, which is Called the Globe, and which the Cube, so as easily to distinguish them by his Touch or Feeling: Then both being taken from Him, and Laid on a Table, Let us suppose his Sight Restored to Him; Whether he Could, by his Sight, and before he touch them, know which is the Globe and which the Cube? Or Whether he Could know by his Sight, before he stretchd out his Hand, whether he Could not Reach them, tho they were Removed 20 or 1000 feet from him?
If the Learned and Ingenious Author of the Forementiond Treatise think this problem Worth his Consideration and Answer, He may at any time Direct it to One That Much Esteems him, and is

His Humble Servant
William Molyneux
High Ormonds Gate in Dublin. Ireland

[1] Nach dem Julianischen Kalender, der in England bis 1752 benutzt wurde.
Encyclopædia Britannica: "Such a strategy was proposed in a letter to the British philosopher John Locke by a fellow philosopher William Molyneux in 1690."

William Molyneux
17. 4. 1656 – 11. 10. 1698
Verwalter und Politiker, beschäftigte sich mit Optik
1678 heiratete er Lucy Domville, die zwei Monate später aufgrund eines Schlaganfalls rasch erblindete
1692 Dioptrica Nova, das erste nennenswerte Buch über Optik in englisch.

John Locke antwortete nie auf Molyneuxs Brief von 1688. Doch Jahre später traten die beiden in Briefwechsel und behandelten auch Molyneuxs Problem. Ab der 2. Ausgabe von Lockes An Essay concerning Humane Understanding, 1694, war darin auch das Problem angesprochen.
Molyneux selbst nahm an, daß der Ex-Blinde den Zusammenhang zwischen taktiler und visueller Erfahrung nicht unmittelbar herstellen kann.
Im Laufe der Jahrhunderte beschäftigten sich zahlreiche Philosophen mit dem Problem: John Locke, George Berkeley, Thomas Reid, Leibniz, Voltaire, La Mettrie, Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, Diderot, Gareth Evans; aber auch Psychologen: Johannes Müller, Hermann Helmholtz, William James; und Mediziner: William Cheselden, J. C. August Franz.
Die experimentale Folgerung aus den operativen Eingriffen: Das neue Sehvermögen benötigt einige Zeit zur Anpassung bevor der Proband Molyneuxs Fragen korrekt beantworten kann.

Links

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Wikipedia

Bibliography compiled by David Chalmers

A Problem Proposed to the Author of the Essai Philosophique concernant L'Entendement als pdf

James Van Cleve: “Reid’s Answer to Molyneux’s Question” als doc

Thomas Reid und William Cheselden als rtf

Dr. Gabor Zemplen: Klassische Theorien des Lichtes und der Farben

Verwandte Themen

Qualia in der Science Fiction

Literatur

Abbott, T. K. (1904): "Fresh light on Molyneux' problem. Dr. Ramsay's case". Mind 13.52. S. 543-554

Berchielli, Laura (2002): "Color, space, and figure in Locke: An interpretation of the Molyneux problem". Journal of the History of Philosophy 40.1. S. 47-65

Bolton, Martha B. (1994): "The real Molyneux question and the basis of Locke's answer". In: Locke's Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press.

Campbell, John (1996): "Molyneux's question". Philosophical Issues 7

Campbell, John (2005): "Information-processing, phenomenal consciousness and Molyneux's question". In: Thought, Reference, and Experience: Themes From the Philosophy of Gareth Evans. Oxford: Clarendon Press

Campbell, John (2005): "Molyneux's question and cognitive impenetrability". In Athanassios Raftopoulos, Hg.: Cognitive Penetrability of Perception: Attention, Strategies and Bottom-Up Constraints. New York: Nova Science

Eilan, Naomi M. (1993): "Molyneux's question and the idea of an external world". In: Spatial Representation. Cambridge: Blackwell

Gallagher, Shaun (2006): "The Molyneux problem". In: How the Body Shapes the Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Held, Richard, Yuri Ostrovsky, Beatrice de Gelder, Tapan Gandhi, Suma Ganesh, Umang Mathur, Pawan Sinha (2011): " The newly sighted fail to match seen with felt". Nature Neuroscience 14, 551-553 –

online (pdf)

Hight, Marc A. (2002): "Why we do not see what we feel". Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 83.2. S. 148-162

Hopkins, Robert (2005): "Molyneux's Question". Canadian Journal of Philosophy 35.3. S. 441-464

Hopkins, Robert (2005): "Thomas Reid on Molyneux's Question". Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 86.3. S. 340-364

Jacomuzzi, Alessandra C., Pietro Kobau, Nicola Bruno (2003): "Molyneux's question redux". Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 2.4 S. 255-280

John Murphy, Joseph (1876): "Space through sight and touch". Mind 1.2 S. 284-285

Levin, Janet (2007): "Molyneux's Question and the Individuation of Perceptual Concepts". Philosophical Studies in print.

Loar, Brian (1996): "Comments on John Campbell, Molyneux's question". Philosophical Issues 7

Ludwig, Kirk (1996): "Shape Properties and Perception". Philosophical Issues 7. S. 325-350

Martin, Michael W. (1992): "Sight and touch". In: The Contents of Experience. New York: Cambridge University Press

Meltzoff, Andrew N. (1993): "Molyneux's babies: Cross-modal perception, imitation, and the mind of the preverbal infant". In: Spatial Representation. Cambridge: Blackwell

Sassen, Brigitte (2004): "Kant on Molyneux's Problem". British Journal for the History of Philosophy 12.3. S. 471-485

Schumacher, Ralph (2003): "What are the direct objects of sight? Locke on the Molyneux question". Locke Studies 3. S. 41-62

Stratton, G. M. (1899): "The spatial harmony of touch and sight". Mind 8.32 S. 492-505

Thomson, Judith Jarvis (198´74): "Molyneux's Problem". The Journal of Philosophy 71.18. S. 637-650

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	Degenaar, Marjolein (1996): Molyneux's Problem. Three Centuries of Discussion on the Perception of Forms. Springer, Netherlands 160 Seiten. Aus dem Niederländischen übersetzt von Michael J. Collins. Mit einer ausführlichen Bibliografie.
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